Tapas bar in San Sebastian
Coast of Biarritz
Chris munching on snails. Yum. (They have another name I just can't remember it).
Port of San Sebastian
Back in August for vacation, after we celebrated my birthday in Positano and went to Rome for a party, C and I spent ten days in the Basque country in northern Spain and southwestern France.We first went to San Sebastian (Spain) and then drove to Biarritz in France. From Biarritz we did a few day trips to the lovely mountain town St. Jean de Pierre and also to the coastal town of St. Jean de Luz. There we had our share of picnics and only two beach days, sadly due to a lot of rain. We later ended our trip with two nights in Madrid staying at our friends' piso. We really enjoyed Biarritz. It was a French surfing town but without the cheeziness. I would even say it was one of my favorite cities to visit. The food was great, and although there were tourists (mainly French and Spanish), it didn't feel abnoxiously overrun by tourists with all of the hype that goes into "touristy" towns.
Lodging: I give five stars to Hotel Centre Biarritz for its cleaningness, location, and overall service. They offer breakfast but we opted for French pastries and coffee at a local pasticerrie'. I won't mention our lodging in San Sebastian because we weren't crazy about the location of it, which was above a loud bar in the Parte Viejo. Ew.
Logistics: We flew from Rome to Santander on Ryanair for like twenty cents and then took a train/bus to San Sebastian where we picked up our rent car. We scored and were given an upgrade to an Audi that was pretty pimp thanks to Europcar. Que bien. After spending three nights in San Sebastian, we then drove to Biarritz, which was only about a 45 minute drive.
Restaurants: Alright you better thank me because I had to dig out my wrinkled up business cards and notes from my August folder for this one. Again, food reviews are not my forte but I can guarantee that se come bien/si mangia bene/ you eat well in these places. Oops.. we didn't save any of the names from Biarritz (!) but for some reason we did in San Sebastian. (?)
We didn't go to all of these restaurants but they were on our list.
San Sebastian restaurants:
Akellare- we didn't go here because it was closed but it supposedly has an amazing view of the bay and amazing fresh modern Basque cuisine.
Arzak- really high end if you want to spend a lot.
Restaurante Bernardo Et-Xea - comida muy buena
Casa Urola- great classic Basque food; affordable.
Ganbara (for tapas)- The hongos a la plancha are to die for here. Thanks GG for this rec!
Bar Sport- great tapas bar- don't let the name scare you, it's not a sports bar.
The San Sebastian Aquarium is also a must!
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